


The Warrior Dash

by hope91



Series: Khazâd-Edhel-on-Hobbiton [3]
Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings (Movies), The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, M/M, Obstacle course, One-Sided Attraction, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-03
Updated: 2014-06-03
Packaged: 2018-02-03 06:29:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1734509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hope91/pseuds/hope91
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Legolas and Gimli compete in a Warrior Dash for Aragorn’s bereaved children’s charity, and Legolas starts to realize he thinks of Gimli in more than just friendly ways.  Set before the events of the main Khazâd-Edhel-on-Hobbiton story, intended to be read as a stand-alone...</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Warrior Dash

_The Dunedain? What’s that?_

Legolas’ reply to Gimli’s texted question came a few minutes later.

_Not sure, but it’s the team name Aragorn wants. Will you do it? Wants to sign up by Friday._

Gimli texted him back right away.

_How far?_

_Three or four miles?_

_Sure, I’m made for sprinting over short distances! No marathon again for me!_ Gimli knew this was an exaggeration, he had done just fine in the marathon he ran with Aragorn and Legolas in Big Sur during their camping trip a few years ago, but Legolas always seemed to do things like that more effortlessly.

_Lol. Merry & Pippin too? Mr. Baggins? Eoywn?_

_Need to check. Have to get back to work, Thorin’s grumpy._

Gimli went back to his environmental analysis for one of Thorin Oakenshield’s projects. As Chief Environmental Officer for Thorin Oakenshield's _Lonely Mountain Mining_ , he sometimes worked long hours, dedicating himself to his job, especially when he first moved back to Khazâd–Edhel-on-Hobbiton and needed to escape his despairing thoughts of Galadriel eloping with Celeborn.

But then his curiosity got the best of him and he couldn’t keep his focus on work for long. He had just signed himself up for some 3 or 4 mile running race, and he needed to Google it, to make sure it wasn’t going to be a repeat of the _Bree Bakery_ donut race that Merry and Pippin had them do at Mr. Baggins’ suggestion—an out-and-back 5 mile course with 12 donuts eaten midway. He still shook his head at the memory of Merry and Pippin not even finishing the race; they just kept eating the donuts!

So Gimli was glad that he had Googled this; it wasn’t what he thought it would be at all. He thought he’d find a costume event and that he’d have to visit the Goblin King’s House of Costumes to find something “armored” or otherwise fit for a warrior. But no, definitely not. This was 3 or 4 miles of obstacles. Not that Gimli minded obstacles, but there was no way he would beat Legolas on these; too much jumping and climbing. Legolas definitely had the advantage here.

He texted Legolas back.

_What is this? An obstacle course?_

The reply didn’t take that long. _Lol. What did you think it was? You’d dress up in chainmail and wield an axe? Lol._

And that text was soon followed by another from his blond-haired friend.

_Already signed you up…do you want to back out?_

Gimli thought about it, but then decided not after clicking through some more pictures. He’d beat his friend in this; he had to. The friendly competition tradition between them was too strong, and Legolas asking if he wanted to back out just fanned its flames.

_No, and I’ll bet I finish faster than you._

~~0~~0~~0~~0~~0~~0~~0~~0~~0~~

On race day, Gimli regretted his bold bet. The obstacles looked even worse in person than they did on the internet. He groaned. This course was completely to Legolas’ advantage.

Legolas walked up to him, looking like he was happy as could be.

“Have a good night with Tauriel last night?” Gimli knew Legolas was committed to being a virgin until he married, but he couldn’t resist teasing him about his long-term girlfriend. He knew, after all, that the situation was the exact opposite, and that Tauriel hardly made time for Legolas anymore, but joking and teasing seemed to take the edge off of it.

“No, just excited for this, it looks like fun. Where’s Aragorn?”

Soon enough they were joined by Aragorn and the rest of his charity’s racers. Merry, Pippin and Frodo wished them good luck, as they had decided to sit this one out but were there for moral support (and _beer_ , if they were honest; how could they be drinking so early in the morning?). Mr. Baggins and Éowyn drove with them, and Éowyn looked at Aragorn with pure adoration in her eyes.

“Did you see that, Legolas?” Gimli whispered to his friend.

“What?” He looked around, half expecting to see something ridiculous, like a giant spider in the trees.

“Éowyn. She still has a crush on Aragorn. We need to talk to her; he just broke up with Arwen, rebounds are never a good thing.”

Legolas smiled wistfully. “Don’t worry, Gimli. It’ll pass, and besides, Aragorn’s a good guy. He wouldn’t let anything happen to her.”

Aragorn had them switch shirts so they all matched, _Dúnedain_ across the front in bold neon letters, the name of Aragorn’s bereaved children’s charity across the back.

“What does this name mean, anyway?” Gimli was still confused about that.

Aragorn shrugged. “Not sure. But I liked it. Seemed like a good name for our team; rugged, fast, stealthy….”

Gimli muttered under his breath. “Slow, plodding, clumsy…”

Legolas patted him on the shoulder; with his above-average hearing, he knew what his short friend had said. “Gimli, you’ll do fine. Don’t sell yourself short.”

 

~~0~~0~~0~~0~~0~~0~~0~~0~~0~~

 

Gimli wasn’t happy with how the race started. He saw the name of the first obstacle, _Laketown Chase_ , and thought it wouldn’t be too bad—it looked like they just needed to climb over a series of walls, and climbing was definitely something he could do. Of course Legolas did it more easily, but they kept up with one another, and Gimli was smug. He’d beat his friend today after all.

The next obstacle, though, made Gimli groan. _Greenwood Collection Water Fall_. That didn’t sound good. The “fall” being purposely separated from the “water?” And why had Legolas’ father sponsored an obstacle? Though it made sense, Thranduil had a lot of money and donated it frequently. And then he saw what it was. _Waterslides_? And of course Legolas somehow rode down his slide on one of his feet. Or something like that, it happened so fast, it was hard to tell. How was that even possible?

Gimli slid down, unceremoniously dumping himself in the water, spitting it out of his mouth and somehow out of his nose when he came up for air.

“Their pace has quickened! Hurry!” Legolas waved at him to continue, as they were falling behind the rest of their team.

The obstacles went by in a blur, Gimli wondering if each would be worse than the last. But this just fired up his resolve; he had to beat his friend, after all! He took off his shirt, not liking being so wet, and pinned his bib number to his shorts.

 _Khazâd-Dum Cave Tours Suspension Bridge._ Of course, this was Legolas’ domain as well, running effortlessly across a thin strip of board. Legolas didn’t even need to grab the ropes for support, he nimbly crossed like he was an acrobat or something. Gimli rolled his eyes. This was completely unfair. Why did he make that bet again? He plodded across, slowly, his heavy footsteps only outweighed by the strong grip he had on the support ropes.

 _Weathertop Climb_. A rope obstacle. This, Gimli could deal with. Of course, he was nowhere near as graceful as Legolas, probably the opposite, but it didn’t matter. He scrambled up to the top, his arm strength to his advantage here.

 _Khazâd–Edhel-on-Hobbiton’s Vineyard Valley Barrel Cross_. Now this wouldn’t be so bad. He had spent enough time with Legolas that he had grown more comfortable with boats and water. And then he groaned even louder. No boats here. Instead he needed to trudge through the river with wine barrels and logs blocking the way? Legolas hopped from barrel to barrel across the logs like he was weightless, while everyone else trudged along. Gimli was even more soaked by the time he crossed. But at least it washed off some of the mud.

 _Mount Doom Fire Brigade_. Was this a joke? Had Legolas teamed up with the course organizers to make sure he would have every advantage possible? And yet again he jumped over the barrels in between the flames like he wasn’t even trying.

Gimli lost sight of his friend then, a crush of people separating them. He was at the start of the fire-obstacle crossing when Aragorn slapped him on the back.

“Want me to toss you across, my friend?”

Gimli looked at Aragorn with indignation. “Nobody’s tossing me!” He surveyed the obstacle again. “You’re right, Aragorn, I can’t jump the distance, you'll have to toss me. Just don’t tell Legolas.”

Aragorn laughed. “I was just joking. Besides, even if we wanted to, it has to be against the rules.”

“Rules? How could this course have rules? It’s chaos!”

It certainly was, with all of the people trudging around, caked in mud and grime.

“And surprisingly fun, Aragorn.” Gimli slapped his friend across the back. “Well let’s get going, we can’t stand here forever, there’s a battle to be won!” And he started to jump across the fire pits, Aragorn close behind.  


  

~~0~~0~~0~~0~~0~~0~~0~~0~~0~~

 

Legolas was at the finish line when Gimli crossed it. If Gimli would have been able to look in a mirror, he would say he looked terrible; covered in mud, his head quickly bandaged by the paramedics from when he had bumped his head on the _Helm’s Deep Assault_. Legolas, on the other hand, looked spotless. He always looked spotless. How was that even possible? Everyone else on this course looked like they had taken a bath in mud and then thrown some dirt on themselves to make sure there were no clean spots left.

“Gimli! You lost!” Legolas called to him, glad to see his friend had finished. Then he frowned. “Are you okay? What happened?”

Gimli told him it was nothing serious, his skull was thick, after all. It ran in the family.

Legolas grinned and then remembered their friend. “Where’s Aragorn?”

Gimli looked a bit serious. But mostly he laughed. “He fell. Legolas, he fell. Back on the _Brandywine River Crossing_. I’m not even sure how it happened, those fake animals, whatever they were, they weren’t even very close to the course, but it seemed like one pushed him over or something!”

Legolas laughed in return, and then he stopped, forgetting about Aragorn for a moment. He had been watching Gimli all morning, having made it through each obstacle first and then having time to study his friend.

On the _Laketown Chase,_ Gimli’s determination was etched onto his strikingly handsome face. On his kissable lips. Legolas imagined they were soft but rough, and wondered what they would feel like on his own.

On the _Greenwood Collection Water Fall_ , Gimli’s ginger-colored hair became as wet as the rest of him, and his clothes stuck to him, the tantalizing muscles underneath unmistakable, his hair a darker-than-normal mass of silk, like ribbons. Legolas was struck by an unbidden thought, how he wanted to unwrap Gimli like he was a present, and see if what was underneath felt as good as he thought it looked.

On the _Khazâd-Dum Cave Tours Suspension Bridge_ , when Gimli had discarded his shirt, his broad torso glistened in the sun, the ginger hairs covering his chest sparkling like they were fiery strands of rubies.

On the _Weathertop Climb_ , Gimli’s arms were powerful, his biceps barely straining to pull his weight. It was sensual somehow, and Legolas could only think about how he wanted to be wrapped in those arms.

On _Khazâd–Edhel-on-Hobbiton’s Vineyard Valley Barrel Cross_ , Gimli’s muscular legs propelled him over the barrels and logs blocking the way. Legolas had never felt aroused by legs before, and he closed his eyes when he imagined what it would be like to massage them, holding Gimli in his hands.

Before Legolas had crossed the _Mount Doom Fire Brigade_ and lost sight of Gimli, the sweat on his friend’s skin glistened like diamonds, only outmatched by the sparkle in his eyes from the reflected fire. Legolas wondered what it would be like to kiss that skin, after they had showered and dressed…or maybe not dressed….

Legolas’ heart fluttered in his chest. He imagined Gimli on the other obstacles, his ginger-haired friend more and more handsome, desirable and inviting as he completed each one. His throat grew dry, and he bit his lower lip, overcome by his feelings. He felt more desire for Gimli in this moment than he had felt for Tauriel in all of their time together combined.

“Legolas? Legolas? Legolas!”

Gimli’s words brought him back to reality. “Aragorn is finally done!”

Aragorn looked awful. The fall into the water must have been followed by a fall into one of the mudpits, at least three times. He was hardly recognizable.

Legolas shouted at him, trying to distract himself from his stream of provocative thoughts. “Aragorn, you’re late! And you look terrible!” It was the truth, after all.

And Legolas was falling for his best friend. That was the truth, too. And he shook his head, because he knew nothing would ever come of it, especially after Gimli slapped him hard across the back and told him they’d go to Merry and Pippin's _Prancing Pony Bar and Restaurant_ to celebrate his win, drinks on him.

He sighed. No, this was something he would need to try to forget. But how? The images were branded into his mind.

It would go away, it had to. He’d just pretend like nothing had happened, put even more energy into their friendly competitions and teasing.

That would work, after all. Wouldn’t it?

Their friends came up to them then, with congratulations and beer. They laughed about the antics of the day, and Merry, Pippin, Frodo and Éowyn vowed to do the race the following year.

“What about you, Mr. Baggins?” Legolas looked down at Gimli’s next door neighbor, wanting to entice him to enter next year.

“Oh, I don’t think so, Legolas. I’m a bit old for this. And I don’t want any adventures, I think!”

Legolas laughed. “First off, that’s not true! Half of the people here might have been older than you! And you’re cut out for adventure, you just don’t know it.”

Bilbo smiled back. “Alright Legolas. I'll run it next year, if I’m married and my spouse runs it with me.” He knew that was a safe promise, it would never happen, meeting people was too hard and he had almost given up on finding anyone.

Bilbo’s face turned somewhat grim, and his dour mood rubbed off on Legolas. “Don’t worry, Mr. Baggins, you’ll find someone someday. Who knows, maybe it’s someone you already know. Maybe they’ve been standing in front of you all along.”

Bilbo turned to look at Legolas; his words seemed reflective and longing. He wasn’t quite sure what the tall blond meant, but he had some guesses. He kept them to himself, though; he was a polite man, after all.

So he kept his words brief. “Maybe, Legolas. Maybe.”

And they both sat there, wondering if they would ever hold their heart's true desire, one not having met his yet, the other staring at his wistfully.

**Author's Note:**

> This Warrior Dash is based on the real Warrior Dash, and the donut race on the Krispy Kreme Challenge in North Carolina.....


End file.
